The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-01-05
Mr.. aRApY's SPEECH.


State OF the South"
Mr.. GRADY's SPEECH.
.Ttere was a South OF secession and
sIavery-that South is dead. There Is q
Sontb Of union and freedom-that South
is living, breathing, growing every hour.
These words, delivered from the lips oil
BENJAMIN II. Hill, in Tammsny Hall, IN
1866. make my text for tonight
,rprr.N AND CAVALIER HERE TOGETHER.
Pardon me one word, Mr.. President,
spoken for the purpose of getting INTO the
volumes that go out annually irelghted
with the rich eloquence of your speakers
the fact that the Cavalier as well as the
Puritan was on this continent In its early
DAYS. and that he was cup and able to be
about.n GI.aughter.] l have read your
hooks carefully and / find no mention of
that fact. which seems to me important
for preserving a sort OF historical equilib-
rum.
With the Cavalier once established as a
fact in YOUR charming little books, / shall
LET him work out his own salvation, Us he
has always done with engaging gallantry,
and we will hold no controversy as TO mis-
merits. Why should me? Neither Pari-
tan nor Cavalier long survived as such.
The virtues and traditions of both happily
still live for the inspiration OF their sons
and the saving of the old fashion. APP
pIause.1 But both Puritan and Cavalier
were lost in the storm of their tirst revolu-
ton. and the American citizen, supplanting
both and stronger than either, took posses
sion of the Republic bought by their COM
mon blood and fashioned in wisdom, and
h.na1an with fpanhinn
government and establishing the voice of
the people as the voice of God. Applause. !
Greatsmen, like valuable plants, are slow
to flower aud fruit. But from the union
of these colonists, from the Strengthening
of their purposes and the crossing of their
blood, slow perfectlng through century,
came he who stands as the first typical
A merican, the first who comprehended
within himself all the strength and godli-
ness, all the majesty aud grace OF this
Republic-Abraham Lincoln. Loud and
long continued applause. He was the
, sum of Puritan and Cavalier, for IN his
ardent nature We're fused the virtues of
both, and In the depths of his great soul
the faults of both were lost. Renewed
applause. He was greater than Puritan,
greater than Cavalier, in that he was
American renewed applausel, and that in
his homciy form were first gathered the
vast and thrilling forces of this ideal gov
eminent, charging it with such tremendous
meaning and so elevating it above human
suffering that martyrdom, though infam-
ously aimed, came as fitting crown to a
life consecrated from its cradle to human
liberty. Loud and prolonged cheering.
Let US each, cherishing his traditions and
honoring his fathers, build with reverent
hands to the type of this simple but sub
lime life, in which all types are honored,
and In the common glory which we shall
win as Americans there will be plenty and
| to spare for your forefathers and for mine.
Renewed cheering
WHAT THE NEW SOUTH MEANS.
In speaking to the toast with which you
have honored me L accept the term, "The
New South" as in no sense disparaging to
the Old. Dear to me, sir, are the home of
my childhood and the traditions of nv
people. There is New South, not through
protest against the Old, but because of new
conditions, new adjustments and, if you
please, new ideas and aspirations. 1t is to
this that l address myself. l ask you.
gentlemen, to picture if you can the foot.
sore soldier, who buttoning up in his faded
gray jacket the parole which was taken
testimony to his children of his fidelity
and faith, turned his face southwark from
Appomattox in April, 1865. Think of
him as ragged, half-starved, heavy hearted.
enfeebled by want and wounds, having
fought to exhaustion, he surrenders his
gun, wrings the hands of his comrades.
and, lifting his tear stained and pallid
face Tor the last time to the graves that
dot the old Virginia hills. pulls his gray
cap over his brow and begins the slow and
painful journey. What does he fiud-Iet
me ask you, who went to your homes eager
to ind all the welcome you had Justly
earned, full payment for your four years
sacrihce-what does he find when he
reaches the home he left four years before
He finds his house in ruins, his farm de.
vastated, his slaves freed, his stock killed.
his barns empty, his trade DESTROYED. his
money worthless, his social system. feudal
IN It's magnlhcence, swept away, his peo-
pie without law or legal status, his com
rades slain and their burdens of Others
heavy on his shoulders. Crushed by
defeat, his very traditions gone. Without
money, credit, employment, material or
tralnIng-and, besides all this, confronted
with the gravest problem that ever met
human intelligence-the establishing of a |
status for the vast body of his liberated |
slaves.
What does he do-this hero in prav
with heart of gold-does he sit down in |
sullenness and despair? Not for a day.
Surely God, who had scourged him in his |
inspired him in his adversity
AS ruin was never before so overwhelming,
never was restoration swifter. The soldier
stepped from the trenches into the furrow
horses that had charged Federal guns
marched before the pillow, and fields that
ran red with human hlood in, |
green with the harvest in June women
rearei in luxury cut up their dresses and
made breeches for their husbands, and
with a patience and heroism that fits wo
man always as a garment, gave their
hands to work. There was little bitterness
in all this. Cheerfulness and frankness
prevailed. "Biil Arp" struck the keynote
when he said well, killed as many of
them as they did of me, and now | am
going to work" Laughter and applause1
Or the soldier, returning home after defeat
and roasting some corn on the roadside,
who made the remark to his comrades
: You may leave the South, if you want to,
but l am going to Sandergiile, kiss nv
wife and raise crop, and if the Yankees
iool with me any more | will whip 'em
again" Renewed iaughter1 / want to
say to Gen. sherman-who is considered
an able man in our parts, though come
people think he is kind of careless man
about hre-that from the ashes left US in
1854 we have raised brave and beautiful
:ity ; that somehow or other we have
taught the sunshine in the bricks and
Mortar of our homes, and have builded
herein not one single ignoble prejudice or
memory. Applause.
Kings THAT HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.
But what is the sum of our work We
ave found out that in the general sum-
ning up the free negro counts more than
e did as a slave. We have planted the
ehoolhouse on the hilltop and made il G
rec to white and black. We have sowed
owns and cities in the place of theories I,
nd put business above politics. FAN I
lause- We have challenged your spin
Iers in Massachusetts, and your iron .
aakers in Pennsylvania. We have learned P
hat the $400,O00,00 annually received Q
rom our cotton crop will make us rich
1hen the supplies that make it are home !"
aised. We have reduced the commercial q
ate OF interest from "a to per cent, and
nd are floating 4 per cent bonds. We
ave learned that one Northern immigrant y y
! worth fifty foreigners, and have smooth =
the path to the Southwark, wiped ont '
he place where Mason and Dixon,s line
sed to be, and hung our latch-string out r
you and yours. Prolonged applause =